


For The Greater Good

by Altiria



Series: Whumptober 2020 [9]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Begging, Dark Harry Potter, F/M, Female Harry Potter, Harry is probably being manipulated, Rituals, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:21:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26905039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Altiria/pseuds/Altiria
Summary: It's the begging that helps Holly realize that there is an escape from her position. Because, for as long as she’d known him, Tom has never once begged, and even if he did, he wouldn’t do it to save her. So... there simply must be another way out, and his words are the clue Holly needs to find it.No 9. FOR THE GREATER GOOD“Take Me Instead” | “Run!” | Ritual Sacrifice
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle
Series: Whumptober 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946422
Comments: 5
Kudos: 231





	For The Greater Good

**Author's Note:**

> Considering the title for this prompt- I couldn't NOT do the thing >:D I just had to!

_"Remember this Potter, I don't beg. I will never plead, and any thought of me being kind… remove it from your head. It will never happen. If you can accept that, then I will take you… if only for your potential."_

"Holly!" 

Holly could barely hear his voice anymore. It was only a whisper in the back of her head, a ghostly thing promising violence. In fact, Holly couldn't even put a name to that voice. She knew… she knew it was familiar. It was in a way that could never be forgotten, but… she no longer knew why. 

"Lift your arms! Get up!" 

She couldn't do that. There was nothing physically holding her down, but Holly still couldn't so much as shift despite the voice asking it of her. Her arms were flat on the ground, palms facing up, and she was stuck there. Holly was pinned down, forced onto her back. She was trapped. 

Shifting her eyes to the side as far as they would go allowed Holly to see a circle surrounding her. The ring was made of glowing purple lettering - runes. Bleary-eyed and unfocused, Holly could still read the symbols as if they'd been written in English… he had ensured she knew to do that much. What she could make out, well, it meant nothing good for her.

Moving her attention outward, Holly discovered that she was at the center of the circular design. While outside it was fretful faces; their names came easy, and the feeling of thick betrayal soured her tongue. Any sense of familiarity died as she stared at them, as she felt the air thicken with betrayal.

"Holly! In Morgana's name! You have to move!" 

Hermione, Ron, Minerva… Molly, Arthur, Kingsley, Remus… Dumbledore. They'd told her this was for the greater good, they'd told her she'd be safe, that she'd understand once it was all over. She didn't believe it. Holly had fought back with all the strength she possessed, and considering she was the most powerful witch of the age… that was a lot. And then they'd fought dirty- the diary, they'd stolen it from her, they threatened it, threatened him, and she could do nothing but surrender. 

Now, this was the result.

Holly moved her eyes along the 'worried' group. Everything about the motion was sluggish, even her own mind was a bit behind. But as she scanned the area, she found a second runic circle in black where her diary lay. At its center, forced down, chained to the flooring by his wrists… was her- her-

He opened his mouth, face twisting in a snarl as finally caught Holly's gaze and mouthed the words: "Do you want us both to die Potter?!" 

Tom. 

Holly's fingers dug into the floor beneath her. Tom, he was her only friend. He was the only one who listened when she told him she was abused, and he never judged just because she was a parseltongue. Tom hadn't turned on her when her name had spawned from the goblet. Nor ignored her when Umbridge came into the picture. Tom was her only real ally. Her only friend. Tom was the one she loved, the other half of her soul. They were connected, and Holly wasn't letting either of them die here.

Dumbledore stepped forward, and the stern expression on Tom's face melted away to one of more concern, a mask like all the rest Holly instantly knew. "Once the ritual is complete, Tom's connection to Holly will be severed. All thoughts to the positive, we should see immediate recovery, and she should return to her original personality." 

A mouse. Dumbledore was talking about when Holly had been eleven and desperate for anyone to look at her. When she'd tanked her grades for approval, skived her studies because Ron asked her too. When Holly couldn't handle the Dursley's. When she was nothing but a follower. Dumbledore was talking about Holly's personality before the diary dropped into her lap and showed her what she could be. 

Holly clenched her fists, moved them despite the runes tying her down. She… she was the strongest witch in an age, and she would not allow a few runes stop her. Forcing herself to shift, to gain any sort of motion, Holly managed to smudge the rune closest to her and felt her thoughts moving a touch faster. Holly swiftly scanned the area, environment. Tom had always enforced the need to be aware of it; she spotted Snape off to the side with a blank expression, then turned back to Tom. From the side, Holly could see he was positively snarling at Dumbledore, an uncharacteristic amount of anger was on his face. Holly knew the expression was an act, yet she still found the idea he was that moved by her imprisonment flattering. Even Dumbledore seemed slightly taken aback because Tom was usually far more eloquent and manipulative. This emotional version was a surprise to them all. But as Dumbledore assumed and Holly knew, it was an act to distract Dumbledore so Holly could escape.

"Let her go! Take me instead!" 

That wasn't a surprise either, not considering what Holly housed. She was the key to Tom's revival but… but not the one she preferred. Holly was the key to Voldemort's soul, not Tom. Because Tom was nothing but a revived Horcrux. He was the diary brought into physical existence through Holly's magic, a Muggle sacrifice, and years of planning. Tom was also considered Holly's teacher and guard, just as she was supposed to be his. They'd both failed today… Voldemort would be furious. 

Tom would be killed if she didn't do something, and the Horcrux within her would be ripped away. Then Holly would be reduced to a shell, and she would not expect Voldemort to help her; he wouldn't. The only one who would was… Tom. 

Holly snapped her eyes to the floor again and tried to move her hands again. Every shift was hard-won, but each shift smudged another poorly drawn rune. It was intelligent work, Hermione's probably, but the attention to the big picture was missing. Tom was like that too. He was beyond smart, but he didn't miss the obvious; he'd never have drawn the runes for the critical ritual in chalk. Holly moved again, Tom was distracted the group entirely all but for Snape. This was quite the test for the spy. To speak out or not, his choice could doom her. She had to act regardless. Holly shifted her foot, scuffed a rune there. She wiggled her body while Tom completely 'lost it.' She rubbed her head on the ground, got chalk in her hair and- could move. 

Tom was intelligent; he was the smartest person Holly knew. He knew obscure magic that Dumbledore couldn't even dream of. Tom knew how to revive the dead, prevent death, and craft a body using ritual sacrifice without ever needed to harm Holly. He was smart, and that was where the danger came from. Tom was a genius with a level of control over his magic that was unheard of. This was the reason Voldemort had been so terrifying before his original defeat. This was also why, while still insane, Voldemort had been a tenth of a threat. Because Voldemort was madness and wild magic, he had been uncontrolled and had none of Tom's strengths. 

Holly wasn't smart like Tom was. She didn't have the extreme control he could pull off. Holly could cast wandlessly, on occasion without effort, because Holly knew spells just that intimately. But what Holly lacked for in control and genius-level intelligence, she more than made up for in power. Holly was brute strength, the kind that allowed her to knock out a dragon with a stupefy. The type that froze entire lakes with a flick of the wand. That could force a whole hoard of Dementors back with one Patronus. 

She was power. 

Holly shoved her hands on the ground, hurled herself into a crouch and tossed her palms outward. Dumbledore hadn't even realized she was free yet, not like Snape, who'd never taken his eyes from her. Dumbledore only noticed when Tom finally smiled. That insane expression, a manic look that made Tom resemble Voldemort. The sign that the creation of the first Horcrux hadn't entirely left his soul unaffected- and then Dumbledore was flying across the room. He and the order cracked against the walls under the sheer force of Holly's magic. One moment of distraction that Tom earned her, and they were defeated. 

Tom's smile grew until it was all teeth. Nothing charming was left in its wake, but oh how Holly loved it when he smiled like that. Tom was real like this. 

"Well done, Holly." 

Her magic swirled around her like a whirlwind. Holly scarcely noticed Hermione begging her to let them help her. Didn't acknowledge Remus telling her she was being possessed, controlled. Or Arthur and Molly yelling that she would end up like Ginny… Tom was proud of her- Holly smiled a little bit crazed. They didn't get it. They thought the diary was controlling her; they thought she had no control over her actions. That she was blank, had large gaps of memory loss, that Tom was utterly in control, and Holly needed to be saved. 

They had no idea. 

No idea that Tom had never once taken over her body. He'd simply offered her the acceptance that Dumbledore had designed her to crave freely. He'd built up her loyalty over years. Had been a willing ear, a patient but firm teacher. Holly hadn't been wrong in her assumption that she and Tom were soulmates, for she was well aware that she held a part of his soul. He understood her in a supernatural way. Perhaps it was because Tom knew from the Horcrux within her. Maybe he'd cheated and had read her mind. But Holly was long past caring. 

Holly looked to Snape, the only one who hadn't been thrown back and watched him kneel as she scuffed the runic work tying Tom down with her trainers. Holly stepped into the runic circle herself and plucked the diary, that sentimental empty Horcrux, from the ring's center and held it close. She then freed Tom from the chains while her former friends wailed and pleaded. Tom stepped free as Dumbledore tried to escape, to ordered Severus to do something. Tom stalked the room, debating their next step. 

Eventually, Tom approached Snape and snatched hold of his arm. Snape smothered a flinch even as he kept his head low in deference. "I am uncertain what to do with you Severus, you didn't warn of this… but nor did you interference with Holly's escape." Tom grabbed Severus' face and forced it up, "It seems time to truly discover where your loyalties lie."

Holly knew Tom would plunder Snape's mind for any information he deemed necessary. Such a thing could take days, hours, or minutes. She suspected the latter though, they weren't exactly safe, and he wouldn't allow himself to remain unfocused for too long. Not with Dumbledore so close, not while the man was actively attempting to escape. To prevent any… mistakes, Holly flicked her hand to disarm the group and palmed Dumbledore's wand for future casting. 

_"Select one within the group, they will be the final ingredient for your Horcrux."_

Holly glanced at Tom, he was still looking at Snape, but he'd spoken his order in her head. And it was an order, so Holly got to work. She turned toward the small group, still pinned to the wall debating. Remus was dismissed; the werewolf aspect could cause issues, and despite everything, Holly still held some measure for Remus through her parents; that and Sirius probably would disapprove. Molly, Minerva, and Hermione were likewise dismissed out of sheer disinterest; they didn't feel right. This left Kingsley, Arthur, Ron, and Dumbledore. 

That would be poetic.

And her manic smile grew.


End file.
